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Toyoca Six
Summer 1957. }} The Toyoca Six "Toyoca" is certainly the contraction of Toyohashi — Tougodo's hometown — and Camera. (トヨカシックス) is a Japanese 6×6 folder, made by Tougodo (Toyohashi) around 1957. Description The Toyoca Six is a horizontal folder, with three-part folding struts inspired from the 6×6 Ikonta. The Toyoca has many similarities with the 1953 Beauty Six by Taiyōdō; the two cameras seem to share the same body casting and a few parts. The back is hinged to the right, as seen by the photographer, and retained by a sliding bar on the left. It normally contains two red windows to control the film advance, one for 6×6cm pictures and the other for 4.5×6cm. These are protected by individual sliding covers, with 16.E.X. and 12.E.X. indications. (The back is shaped the same as on the Beauty Six, and the position of the windows is similar, but the details of the window covers differ.) The film is advanced by a knob the left end of the top plate, and there is a decorative flange at the opposite end. The viewfinder is integrated in the middle of the top housing. The accessory shoe is to the viewfinder's left. The shutter release is at the usual location on the right. There is a small cylindrical part visible immediately to the right of the viewfinder, which might be a threaded hole for a release cable. The folding bed release button is placed in front of the accessory shoe and has a smooth wedge shape, exactly the same as on the Beauty Six The name Toyoca is engraved at the front of the top housing, in front of the accessory shoe, the TG logo of Tougodo is inscribed on the folding struts, and the body serial number appears above the top plate, on the viewfinder's right. The shutter has a self-timer and a PC synch socket. The lens is a front-cell focusing Tri-Lausar Anastigmat 8cm f/3.5, made by Tomioka. The shutter plate has depth-of-field indications on a black background. The ever-ready case is made of brown leather and is embossed Toyoca 6 at the front. Case observed in an online auction. Commercial life and surviving examples One source says that the Toyoca Six was released in 1956 as a single format camera, taking 6×6cm pictures only, but this has not been confirmed yet. Kamera no ayumi, p.140. This source wrongly says that the decorated lens standard is specific to the single format camera. The only period document known so far is a column in the Summer 1957 special issue of on Japanese cameras, where the Toyoca Six is attributed to Tōgōdō Kōki and priced at . Column in no.63, p.116, reproduced in this page. It is the only document listed in , p.392. This document mentions the dual-format ability and says that the shutter is a CHY-FS (B, 1–200) with X synchronization. The Toyoca Six is very uncommon today, and only three surviving examples have been observed so far. One of them is owned by the Pentax Gallery. It has a round lens standard and a leatherette patch on the film flange at the top right. Example pictured in , item 1422, and in Kamera no ayumi, p.140 (body no.1x5741, lens no.60594). The latter source wrongly says that the round lens standard is a specific feature of the dual-format examples. Its shutter is a CHY-SB shutter (B, 1–200), engraved CHY–SB at the bottom of the speed rim. Its aperture scale, at the top of the shutter casing, is metal finished. The other two examples have an angled lens standard, with a decorated protrusion behind the synch socket. They also have concentric rings on the film flange instead of a leatherette patch. These features are the same as on the illustration of the Summer 1957 article mentioned above. (The front standard is also similar to that found on some advertisements for the 1953 Beauty Six.) The two cameras have no marking on the shutter, and have a black aperture scale at the top. One has B, 1–200 speeds and the other has B, 1–300. Examples observed in an online auction. B, 1–200: lens no.36340. B, 1–300: body no.198958, lens no.39844. Notes Bibliography * Item 1392. * P.140. * P.185 (brief mention only). * no.63 (Summer 1957). "Nihon no kamera zenbō: Nigan-refu kamera – supuringu kamera" (日本のカメラ全貌・二眼レフカメラ・スプリングカメラ, Compendium of Japanese cameras: TLR and folding cameras). P.116. * Item 1422. Category: Japanese 6x6 viewfinder folding Category: T